Monday, June 30, 2014

Earlier this month, I spent two nights in Tuy Hoa, Phu Yen province in the centre of Vietnam. I joined a group of friends and their company, a group of over 200 people. It sounds not really fun with such a huge group but because they all work in the tourism industry, they do know how to balance between activity and relaxation. I just fell in with the group, wandering around the Vietstar resort eating, swimming and drinking the whole time. I joined a smaller group on an excursion to Gềnh Đá Dĩa, about 30 minutes away by bus. It was the place to observe the sunset where you sit on big flat rocks laying on each other like a stack of plates. On both sides of these rock formations there are nice beaches.

On my second day, I woke up early and went solo by taxi down to the town. About 15 minutes from the resort, the town has enough interest to occupy me for a whole morning. I have to say Phu Yen has changed so so much compared to the first time I was there 24 years ago. The good thing remaining is the quiet atmosphere of the city and its friendly people.

I went to Tan Binh Noodles at 121 Nguyen Trai Street for my breakfast, picking a southern style bowl, which was very much like the Nha Trang beef noodles of my home town. It was just a little bit sweeter but very tasty. The owner noticed me taking photos and he tried to re-arrange the table and told me: don't forget to put it on Facebook. It was so funny!

Walking down to the Tuy Hoa market, the biggest one in town, I wasn't that impressed at first look but as I walked toward to the back, I loved it. I love to see live and fresh produce from herbs to meat and seafood and I had no trouble spending about 2 hours there. The sellers were more than happy to talk to me and some even asked me to take their photos, which is very different to Hanoi. I had a lot of laughs with the vendors there. I bought lots of rice crackers from Tuy Hoa and also rice crackers with coconut, chili and sesame seeds from Binh Dinh which are renowned in the region. I was so excited to see them there.

Then I headed to an eatery serving roasted chicken in fish sauce. The Thien Huong restaurant at 211 Le Thanh Ton Street is Tuy Hoa's answer to KFC but very Vietnamese in style, served with fresh herbs, green tomatoes, cucumber and mayonnaise mixed with sweet chilli sauce. Open for lunch and dinner, it was packed with local people, which is always a good sign.

My last stop of the day was Cafe Tung at 69 Tan Da Street. According to the locals, this is one of the oldest coffee houses in town, considered to serve the best coffee. I ordered a black coffee which is unusual for me but it was very good. The coffee shop itself looked a bit tacky with the two parts of the shop very different in character; the entrance was red and modern with high tables while the other section was more relaxing with low chairs and tables with lots of plants around. I bought more than a kilogram of coffee back to Hanoi to drink at home.

It was a short and sweet visit but I'd like to go back again for a longer vacation when I can spend more time on the beach and discover more food.

Monday, June 16, 2014

After relaxing on the beach in Boracay, I stayed a few days in Manila and it was so much fun. I met some of my previous street food tour clients and they took me out for dinner and also recommended so many things that I must do in Manila, including shopping.

Between my eating time in Manila, I visited different malls to buy some souvenirs. Malls in Manila are huge and there are too many of them around. I got dizzy and lost in two of them and they only way out I told myself was to walk down to the ground floor and find the car park. It was so frustrating at the time but actually it was great fun walking around different malls to see how local people do their shopping. I love the weather in Manila as it was nowhere near as humid as Hanoi and I felt more comfortable. Some people may not like it here but I loved it as it's a bit similar to Hanoi. A big crazy Asian city!

My clients took me to a restaurant called Mesa which is located at the Greenbelt Shopping Centre. This is a great Filipino fusion restaurant and always full with locals and tourists. We had way too much food including deep fried pork, fish, stir fried veggies, pigs' feet and then, not that we needed it, dessert! Apologies that I can't give the exact names of the dishes - sometimes you just have to concentrate on the conversation. After dinner, we went to a square where they play live music to drink beer. It's a bit similar to Bia Hoi without music in Vietnam. It was so cool and I loved that atmosphere very much

My clients mentioned about the most popular fast food in Manila called Jollibee and these franchises are always located right next to McDonalds. I don't know why I took the recommendation but I ate the pasta with deep fried chicken. It was really not my type of food.

The only thing I slightly regret is that I didn't have a chance to ride a jeepney around Manila. They look so good and so colourful. This will be one of the reasons that I will come back to Manila. Thanks to my clients that made my trip to Manila so special and hopefully see you again soon

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

Recently, after being refused a visa for Japan, I spent just a couple of nights in both Boracay and Manila in the Philippines. Because it was such a short stay, I can't tell you much about the whole country but I loved it there very much due to the people I met and what I ate

Boracay made a great first impression mainly due to the shock of the amazing white sand beach and the clear, huge expanse of blue sky. It took me about 5 minutes to think about the beach on arrival as I couldn't believe this beach could be real. I decided to spend most of my time on the beach drinking San Miguel beer and swimming - let's face it, there's probably not much else to do! Oh, and eating, of course.

With my fussy eating, I walked down the main d*talipapa market area to choose my own fresh seafood before bringing it over to be cooked at the restaurants. It was a real heaven for me, eating seafood everyday. The local people cooked the seafood in different styles and they turned out well. Even though I prefer to eat seafood very simply, some of their preparations were interesting and I learned ways of mixing new ingredients. The locals were surprised about how much I could eat and how much of an expert I am at eating crabs and prawns. Once they heard I grew in a coastal town, they understood why. I prefer eating steamed and grilled seafood with a Nha Trang simple dipping sauce: salt, lime, pepper and lots of chili but Pilipino don't eat that way :).

The hotel staff wondered why I kept skipping breakfast. I didn't want to offend them but I never eat hotel breakfasts because then I miss an opportunity for a local breakfast experience. It's just my personal thing but I prefer to take a tri-bicycle or walk down to the market or a local eatery to try the local stuff on offer. That's the best way to learn about the culture and cuisine. I'm a friendly chatty person so locals don't mind spending some time talking to me. They all thought I was from China which is a bit sad but really, especially because of what is happening in our region recently. I do prefer if they think I'm local :).

One big mistake I made when I was in Boracay was going to an Italian restaurant for dinner, upon the recommendation of the hotel staff. The food was reasonable but I would have enjoyed the experience of eating in a local restaurant a couple of minutes down the road, like I'd originally planned. Think I'll stuck with my plan next time.

The nightlife in Boracay is also very interesting. There is a lot of 80s style music being played by bands and DJs and I realized that's why so many Filipino singers in Vietnam are obsessed with the same music. The nightclubs and bars are pretty busy every night but the atmosphere is fun and there is no fighting or other nasty stuff going on.

Boracay is definitely one of my favorite places and I'm pretty sure I'll go back again in the very near future.

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About Me

Van Cong Tu is a food blogger and local hospitality industry insider from Nha Trang currently living in Hanoi. He has an enormous passion for his country's food and culture. Tu's blog, cheekily named Vietnamese God, is where he started to document his food and culture adventures in 2005. Tu's quirky observations also found their way into Pathfinder magazine and Vietnam's TimeOut. Tu's experience managing some of Hanoi's finest dining establishments along with his special interest in street-food (he's shared many hours trawling the street stalls and markets with stickyrice blogger, Mark Lowerson) make him the genuine, local authority on Hanoi's food scene.